Tuesday, December 29, 2015

2015 MEMORABLE BEER LIST--by RAYMOND

and the list continues--this time from a Singapore beer geek friend, instead of a list, Raymond has written in his own style--remembering "beery moments" of 2015....

here's the list in his own words:-(all pics provided by Raymond)"Firstly, many thanks for sounding me out with the idea of recording the top beers I have enjoyed in
2015.

(Un)fortunately,
there have been far too many outstanding beers that I had experienced this past
year! Even after weeks of thought and deliberation, I am still stumped to
produce any useful list. Therefore, I have decided to compile a general list of
BEST beer experiences in 2015, hopefully that can make up for the pathetic
indecision that plagues me.

“过去一年喝了不少好酒，实在没办法整理出清单情况下，决定以这样的方式来记录。。。”

1) Doing weird things to beer.

In
2015, some of my beer buddies have started to experiment with different ways of
appreciating craft beer. Apart from those who are homebrewers and have
incorporated Asian ingredients into their handmade beer (and they are most
delicious!), I had the privilege of enjoying self-blended craft beer (for
example, an IPA with an amber ale), and pressure infused beer (using an
espresso gadget to press lemon oils into a saison or gose).

今年和一些啤迷朋友开始试验不同方式品味，比如自己混合不同啤酒，或利用咖啡机挤压柠檬混入农村风格啤酒或德式酸啤酒。。。

2) Encountering rare
beers.

This
year was also remarkable for the number of so-called “whales” that were either
shared kindly by friends or encountered during my travels. I would have never
expected to taste Russian River’s Pliny the Elder, not just once, but TWICE!
While it lived up to well-deserved reputation, it was not so much better than
the beers that are more easily available. That helped to give me a sense of
perspective that we need not always chase after rare beers. Adding to the mix
were examples like Brewdog’s Sink the Bismarck and Tactical Nuclear Penguin.
While I managed to find End of History, sadly it was not for tasting. The
picture is still memorable though.

There
have been many beer sharing sessions in 2015, which have made it possible for
my poor liver to survive all the different beers being ingested. The solidarity
of the Singapore craft beer community is amazing, and many of them have
contributed a lot to the increased awareness and progress made in terms of
craft beer activities. Furthermore, it has become more likely to bump into
fellow Singaporean beer geeks overseas! In fact, one of the most memorable
experiences of the year was drinking beer, whisky and sake with Daniel Goh and
Mengchao (of Brewer’s Craft, Good Beer Company and Smith Street Taps fame) in
Tokyo!

Events
involving beer really ramped up in 2015, with many beer stalls having tap
takeovers, beer club gatherings, beer festivals, parties; in some weeks, there
were not only events every other day, but several happening on the SAME day.
This was the first year that I had the chance to volunteer with my favourite
beer businesses and both occasions were exhausting but also exhilarating fun
(also, free t-shirt).

One
style of beer that I had been obsessed with in 2015 was sours – lambics,
geuzes, goses, saisons, oude bruins, anything that was spontaneously fermented
and as funky as possible. I remember the first sour beer I had was from
Stillwater Artisanal and it was not a pleasant experience at first. It had
reminded me then of animal urine and stale socks! Over time, however, I grew to
enjoy the depth of flavours, much like an acquired taste for blue cheese and
other pungent fermented products. This obsession encouraged to travel great
distances in Osaka, and even to Nagoya which stock such beers that are almost
impossible to find elsewhere in Asia. These journeys did not disappoint and the
beers I found there were pure treasures.